Dealing With N’s – Use The Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

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14 Stand firm therefore,

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having girded your loins with truth,

The lies of Satan (and by extension, his narcissistic children) are like a sword or knife stabbing us right in the gut. “Girding our loins” means putting protection around our core being, so that the lies cannot penetrate and cause their damage. That protection against lies is the truth – the only genuinely effective way to counter a lie. If the very core of our being is strengthened with truth, if we are speaking truth to ourselves and others, we will be far less able to be wounded by the lies coming straight at us.

His truth – ultimately from the Bible and not just what we ourselves or others are telling us – confirms our worth and value before Him.

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and havingput on the breastplate of righteousness,

Proverbs 28:1 –The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

N’s will not hesitate to prey on those with a sensitive conscience, as these sensitive people are more easily convinced that they are the ones in the wrong. But, in general, walking righteously allows us to boldly walk forward in the face of an onslaught from an N.

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15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

This speaks to the ability to continue to walk forward in the midst of attacks by having a clear positive purpose for your life – a purpose of sharing the Good News (gospel) of peace between God and man, and the resulting peace between man and man.

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.16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Satan’s “schemes” (verse 11) to attack and defeat us are called here “flaming arrows”. The shield against these scheming attacks is “faith”, or belief in God – His existence, His nature, His unchangeable love for us, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His power, His forgiveness, and His wonderful eternal purposes which flow from His heart of love.

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17 And take the helmet of salvation,

This most fundamental piece of armor has two aspects. First, it’s the reality of being in God’s kingdom, with God as the King leading the battle against the onslaught of evil. Second, it’s knowing that as citizens of His kingdom, whatever happens to us is under His love and care, wisdom, and power – and that at the end of it all we will be victorious with Him in Heaven.

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and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

If we have only defensive armor, we are spending our lives simply fending off attacks from Satan. Not a very fun position to be in. Being on the offense as part of God’s kingdom not only serves His ultimate purpose of people coming into the fullness of life in His Kingdom, but gives us a positive reason for being in the battle. It helps us focus not just on ourselves, but on His much larger and more eternal purpose of people coming into a love relationship with Him and others.

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While put in “spiritual language”, the armour of God are real, serious tools to be used in our fight against Satan and his agents. It says to “take up the FULL armour of God”. Look again at the entire list above. If we are lacking in any one of the pieces of armour we will be vulnerable to crippling attacks from Satan and his agents, including the narcissists in our lives.